TOWN OF TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WKBW) — Twenty years ago, Leah and Tom Samol were preparing to get married when a sudden, surprise October snowstorm dumped nearly two feet of heavy, wet snow across Western New York, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses.
Their wedding was scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 14, 2006.
With the extensive damage, power outages and travel problems left behind by the storm, they knew pulling it off would be a challenge.
"We were determined," said Leah Samol, as she and her husband recalled those frantic few days. "We were very determined."
WATCH: 'We were very determined': 20 years later, couple recalls wedding during October surprise storm
The storm struck Thursday night, just two days before the wedding. Leah and Tom remember hearing trees falling outside.
"We heard branches cracking outside," Leah said.
"I don't know if we knew what it was at first," Tom said.
More than 400,000 homes and businesses lost power, including St. Christopher's Church in the Town of Tonawanda, where the couple planned to hold their ceremony.
There would be no wedding rehearsal. Their flowers arrived, but had to be prepared by candlelight or flashlight. Leah wasn't even sure whether the Williamsville salon where she'd made appointments for the whole bridal party would be open — and ended up finding another one in North Tonawanda.
The night before the wedding, Leah was supposed to stay at a hotel with her bridesmaids. While driving on Twin City Highway, she encountered traffic lights that weren't working and a police officer directing traffic.
"He yelled, 'You can't take a right here. No right here,'" Leah said. "And I said, 'I'm getting married tomorrow,' and I just went."
When she got to the hotel, her room had gone to another wedding party guest and because it was full from people who had lost power in their homes, she ended up sleeping next to her maid of honor, sleep-over style.
About 20% of their guests were unable to attend the wedding. Others went to extraordinary lengths to get there.
"I felt bad for people that were stuck on the Thruway for hours and hours, and they still came to our wedding," Leah said.
By Saturday, there was still no power at the church. That meant no heat too.
Tom remembers his nieces shivering and the ceremony was illuminated by candlelight and the sunlight pouring in through the stained glass windows.
One important person did make it through the storm: the priest coming from out of town to perform the ceremony.
"I remember during the ceremony, he included something along the lines of, 'I give Tom and Leah a lot of credit for going through with this,'" Tom said.
The couple and their guests eventually got some relief from the cold at the restaurant hosting their reception, which had heat.
"We had a couple of people say, 'I'm glad to be here, but I'm mostly here for the food and heat,'" the couple recalled.
Because so many guests couldn't make it, Leah and Tom also sent extra meals home with people so they would have something to eat.
Two decades later, they say getting married amid the chaos taught them a lesson they have carried throughout their marriage.
"It taught us, don't worry about the plan," Tom said.
The experience helped make them more willing to go with the flow rather than stress about schedules, dates and times.
"Whenever I've tried to plan something, it's basically I've always been shown who's really in charge," Leah said. "It's not me."
